Base Word vs. Root word (or root)

You are not logged in. [Log In] Wordsmith.org Forums Words and languages in schools Base Word vs. Root word (or root)

Print Thread

Page 1 of 2

#173503 - 02/13/08 03:25 AM Base Word vs. Root word (or root)
Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 33 Bigwig Rabbit newbie
Bigwig Rabbit newbie Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 33 California, USA	Among our faculty, there is a casual banter going on about root words Vs. base words. One school of thought is that the two are interchangeable terms. The other group adamantly contends that a base word is one that can stand alone, while a root is a word part that needs some sort of inflectional ending, prefix, suffix, or combination of those in order to be sensible. My thought is that some roots can stand alone, such as flex, while many other roots cannot (like glo as in conglomerate). Is there any consensus here that can lay to rest this most scholarly and magmanimous dispute? http://shooper60.googlepages.com/home

#173504 - 02/13/08 03:53 AM Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: Bigwig Rabbit]
Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel
Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont	hmm, I can't glom on to the idea that they're not synonyms. though I suppose someone can draw that distinction. formerly known as etaoin...

#173516 - 02/13/08 12:10 PM Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: Bigwig Rabbit]
Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel
zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh	In describing inflected languages, like Latin, Greek, or Sanskrit, a distinction between affixes (pre-, in-, and suffixes) and desinences (grammatical endings) is usually made. The former are usually called derivational morphemes (they change the meaning), and the latter inflectional (they indicate the syntactic relationships between words in a phrase). In the study of morphology, there is a difference between free and bound morphemes: free ones can stand on their own, but bound ones are usually affixes, though some like the rasp in raspberry are not. The problem may be with less inflected languages, like English or Chinese. There a lexeme (aka lexical item, word) like man consists of a single morpheme, though come to think of it the Latin nominative singular vir 'man' has no explicit nominitival desinence, as rosa (i.e., the -a) does). Distinguishing between roots (single morphemes) and bases (root morpheme plus one or more affixes, or compounds) seems like a goodly distinction, though perhaps overkill for English morphology. [Addendum: More on roots and stems.] Last edited by zmjezhd; 02/13/08 02:01 PM. Ceci n'est pas un seing.

#173518 - 02/13/08 12:40 PM Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: Bigwig Rabbit]
Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 BranShea Carpal Tunnel
BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague	Does not base have a double meaning? 1. Serving as or forming a base; "the painter applied a base coat followed by two finishing coats". 3. Of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense); "baseborn wretches with dirty faces"; "of humble (or lowly) (among other definitions) While root, even used in a figurative way is so much to the point .

#173520 - 02/13/08 01:35 PM Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: BranShea]
Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel
zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh	Roots are also base, being all covered in dirt and such. Latin radix, radicis, (whence English radish and radical), Greek ριζα (rhiza), and German Wurzel are all cognate: from PIE *wrād- 'root' (also here). Ceci n'est pas un seing.

#173528 - 02/13/08 07:03 PM Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: zmjezhd]
Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 BranShea Carpal Tunnel
BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague	Yes, I know my roots: radijsjes en wortelen. I know my base too.

#173530 - 02/13/08 07:18 PM Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: BranShea]
Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel
zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh	I know my base too. All your base are belong to us. Ceci n'est pas un seing.

#173541 - 02/13/08 11:46 PM Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: zmjezhd]
Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 33 Bigwig Rabbit newbie
Bigwig Rabbit newbie Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 33 California, USA	zmjezhd, Though I had to read your post 4 times to understand it, I declare it the most helpful. The links were quite useful as well. Now I can return to my small pond and be the big fish, dazzling them with my brilliance (as opposed to baffling them). http://shooper60.googlepages.com/home

#173544 - 02/14/08 12:58 AM Re: ein grundriss der ichsucht [Re: Bigwig Rabbit]
Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel
zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh	Now I can return to my small pond and be the big fish, dazzling them with my brilliance (as opposed to baffling them). Thank you. Being a big fish, as well as a lapine bigwig, is a goodlier thing than being a lophalgiac, paleocopric pedant as I. Ceci n'est pas un seing.

#173550 - 02/14/08 02:27 AM Re: ein grundriss der ichsucht [Re: zmjezhd]
Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 Zed Pooh-Bah
Zed Pooh-Bah Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada	Awww. but you're such a cute lophalgiac, paleocopric pedant.

Page 1 of 2

Moderated by Jackie

Forum Statistics

Forums16

Topics13,878

Posts223,909

Members9,019

Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011

Newest Members


	Wordsmith Talk		About Us \| What's New \| Search \| Site Map \| Contact Us

Wordsmith Talk